Authors: Marcos Miñarro Kent W Twizell
Publish Date: 2014/10/17
Volume: 46, Issue: 3, Pages: 276-285
Abstract
Managed bees are used to transfer pollen from male to female flowers in kiwifruit but the contribution of wild insects has been long overlooked We approached such contribution with multiple criteria pollinator abundance foraging behavior pollinating efficiency and response to weather conditions in the absence of imported colonies An abundant and rich community of pollinators 57 were nonApis insects visited kiwifruit flowers and assured a fruit set and size not different from those obtained by optimal hand pollination Honeybees were more abundant and visited more flowers per time but bumblebees were more efficient on a pervisit basis Other taxa are expected to contribute less because of their lower numbers hoverflies wild bees butterflies beetles or their passive behavior nonsyrphid flies Visitation patterns of pollinators were complementary Our results highlight the important contribution of wild insects to the pollination of kiwifruit
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